A response to Danny Nalliah

(Non-technical post: Fedora folks can skip this if they like, I just feel the need to rant as this offends me deeply)

Context: My city of Brisbane, Australia is currently experiencing the worst floods in the region since 1974; Outlying areas and regional towns and cities are cut off and practically underwater. 9 have died and 72 people unaccounted for in Toowoomba, about 1hr outside of Brisbane.

This evangelical preacher, Pastor Daniel Nalliah of “Catch The Fire” Church believes this is his God’s wrath for an ex-Prime Minister asking the state of Israel to participate in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty)

Here’s my response: Originally sent as a comment, but posted here for posterity (and because I suspect Pastor Nalliah has the moral courage to approve comments not matching his own viewpoints)

As a Brisbanite currently preparing for the worst of these floods I take extreme offense to this post and the ignorant, spiteful rhetoric you appear to espouse.

To blame natural disasters affecting hundreds of thousands of people on a politician’s failure to back your *political* belief of choice is utterly vile and as un-Christian as a person of sound mind can conceive.

I (as a practicing Zen Buddhist amenable to the core beliefs of other faiths) have been under the impression that Christ and his followers showed compassion to their brothers and sisters, especially in times of hardship? Am I mistaken? Is compassion in your church only applicable to those who follow your beliefs in lock-step fashion?

If you are truly a Christian (or a decent human being of any ethical / moral character irrespective of believe or lack thereof) then you’ll recant your comments and apologize to the people of Brisbane.

If you truly believe in your heart that the people of Brisbane deserve to suffer because a former Prime Minister’s reasonable call for a government to disengage from creation / proliferation of weaponry capable of killing millons – then frankly I pity you and consider you a poor excuse for a human being with no place in providing ethical and moral guidance to anyone and may your God have mercy on *you*.

While I doubt that this comment will be posted to your site at all (as I’m not preaching to the choir :-)) I would be sincerely interested in a considered response. I will also be posting it to my own blog for the consideration of others, even if you fail to publish it.

5 Replies to “A response to Danny Nalliah”

Dear Fleming, this is in response to your statements. Undoubtedly, this is the wrath of God on Queensland. Mr. Rudd statement is not the sole reason, it is a last reason in the list of reasons. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is a loving God, slow to anger. He takes decissions to destroy as a last resort, however, if the people repent at last moment, He will reverse the decession. One more point i would like to make, Our God listens the prayer of His children, who accepted Jesus Christ as their personal saviour & Lord. Therefore, if one child of God, is available in that area and he prays to God for the protection of the region. God will change His decission for destruction. I am a child of God, accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour.

I’m going to respectfully disagree – and from a rhetorical standpoint you’ve failed anyway, because you’ve not stated any evidence or even a point to your argument. This is not a case of any person incurring an unseen spirit’s wrath nor a “last resort” and frankly no Christian could justify such suffering on their fellows in good conscience – barring Old Testament nutters and overtly political, deluded faux-Christians like Pastor Nalliah and unfortunate souls who follow his damaging ideals.

This is a simple act of nature. Ascribing it to an act of some unseen force or spiritual being is simply folly and a unnecessary distraction from the realities of our world. If you wish to believe in such delusions that is entirely your choice to make, however I do hope that at some point you get some clarity and see there’s no real tangible explanation for it and reliance on “faith” alone is obsessing over a leaf when you have an entire forest ahead – you miss the bigger picture completely.

Nice post.
FYI I have frequently posted to the Catch the Fire website when I’ve read one of their insane articles, but they don’t want any criticism and always remove my posts. FYI I left a complementary post on their site recently with the name “Haywood Jablomi”, but they removed that too 😉